The Fine Lines
by Lex55
Summary: Moments happen in elevators at Seattle Grace, this time is no exception. GI fic.
1. Chapter 1

Title: The Fine Lines.

Pairing: George/Izzie

Rating: R- Mature for sexual situations. This one is also more angsty.

Feedback: Yeah, like I would ever say no to that! Of course, send it over!

Summary: Moments happen in elevators at Seattle Grace, this time is no exception.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything, unfortunately. It would be cooler if I did though.

Spoilers: All the way until the end of the episode "The Other Side of Life" after that my version takes a different route.

A/N : You might have to suspend your belief and imagination because I in no way know anything medical stuff or how hospitals run. Watching shows about hospitals is about as close to knowing about them and about other medical procedures and protocols than I will ever get.

>>

Life is made up of fine lines. When you're a child parents set up these lines. Invisible boundaries that should keep you safe and give you structure. Lines you know you shouldn't cross. Rather it's the fine line of knowing better than sneaking into the cookie jar and ruining you're dinner, or the fine line of defying your parents by staying out past curfew to rebel.

For surgeons the fine line between patients and doctors is a thick black one that's drilled into your mentality from the very first day of medical school. The lines are set from the beginning.

However, for Izzie Stevens those lines have always been so fine, so miniscule, that she never realized she had crossed them until she was so far pass them that when looking back they just seem like a dot on the horizon to her.

As a child she was always the one spoiling her dinner on sweets or the one staying out too late with a boy doing things a young girl shouldn't be doing and finding out the consequences 9 months later.

As a surgeon she was the one getting too involved and putting her heart over the line. A line that became glaringly apparent to her when she was cutting Denny's LVAD cord, but by then she was so far over the line, so deeply involved, that there was no turning back.

>>

Izzie placed the patients file back on the desk at nurses' station just as she felt the rumble of her stomach, reminding her that it had been a while since it last saw food. Ever since George had told her about his idea to transfer to Mercy West she had lost herself in her work. She volunteered to be on call for as much as the hospital policy would allow. She had also taken cases that she knew wouldn't allow her the time to think because she knew if she stopped and allowed herself to examine her life right then she wouldn't be able to carry on. She wouldn't be able to pretend that everything was fine or be able to put on her fake smile every time his wife came around or be able to look at her best friend and not feel something inside of her ache for him.

The idea of George leaving for Mercy West seemed like a devastating solution to her, a solution that she couldn't accept.

So here she was in the pit with trauma's coming in and out, nurses running around waiting for her orders, annoyed patients waiting for her assistance after their long wait, and yet the thing that always came filtering back to her mind was George. No matter how much she worked or occupied her attention, George was always right there on her mind.

Even now with her rumbling stomach, she wondered what he was doing for lunch. She quickly pushed that thought out and told herself that he was probably having lunch with his wife, because that's what married people do. It was a thought that almost made her loose her apatite all together.

A clap of thunder from outside brought her back to reality.

"Mary, I'm going to lunch. Page me if anything big comes in," Izzie told the nurse behind the desk before turning to walk down the hallway towards the stairs.

She had been purposely taking the stairs a lot lately. Ever since her encounter with George, which turned into a kiss between them, she had decided that it was probably best if she stayed away from the intoxicating elevators.

When Meredith asked her one day why she had been taking the stairs so much lately she lied and said she wanted the exorcise. It was a lie that had come easy and one that Meredith didn't seem to question. Or if she did she didn't let on. She was grateful for that too. She didn't want to admit the real reason for the sudden physical activity. It didn't involve anything to do with a desire for burning calories, but everything to do with avoidance. A word she had become far too familiar with lately.

As she turned the corner, she stopped at the sight of Callie standing in front of the stairs talking to Addison. She froze for a moment as Callie glanced over and held her stare for a split second.

She recognized the look. A look she had known well, ever since George had started dating the other doctor she had constantly seen that very look. It was an expression that was a mixture of dominance and annoyance all rolled into one look. She was trying tell her that George was hers, even if Callie wasn't quite so sure she believed that herself, because even though she always put up a strong front, Izzie could also see fear in her eyes. And that made her stomach twist in guilt.

Izzie turned and walked towards the elevator. Maybe using the elevator for once wouldn't be such a bad idea after all. Just another chance to become acquainted with the word avoidance, this time it just happened to be standing in front of the stairs at the moment, so that gave her no choice but to take the elevator.

As the doors opened up, she allowed the passengers inside to file out before she stepped on. She sighed out of relief when she found herself alone as the doors closed behind her.

She pressed the button for the 7th floor and leaned back against the railing behind her. She bowed her head and closed her eyes as she realized how tired she really was. The long hours weren't the only thing that was starting to catch up to her. Her thoughts were starting to take a toll on her as well.

Once again her mind turned to George. As much as she had tried her best to avoid him, it still didn't change the fact that she missed him. It was simple really. She had been taking the long way around the hospital and doing all this extra work to make sure she kept her distance from him and really it was the last thing she wanted.

She felt the elevator come to a stop and heard the bell chime as the doors slid open in front of her. Thinking that she had arrived to her destination she lifted her head, but the sight in front of her made the breath catch in her throat.

George stood at the opened doors, looking as lost and tired as she felt. She felt her heart skip at the sight of him at the entrance. She straightened up as he hesitantly got onto the elevator with her.

He pressed the button for the 8th floor and turned his back to her to face the front of the elevator with out acknowledging her presence.

Izzie swallowed her hurt down behind him.

She stared at his back as they both rode in silence. She took in the slump of his shoulders and could see the heavy burden he was holding there.

She wanted to make it better for him. She wanted to make things right because she hated seeing the tiredness that seemed to surround him these days. She could see that he was in pain and there was nothing that she could do because she was a part of that pain.

As the elevator made its way up, George kept his eyes focused on the numbers lighting up above the doors as Izzie kept her eyes focused on him. Every part of him could feel her eyes on him.

The silence in the small space was so loud that he thought he was going to go deaf from it.

He tried to keep his focus on the numbers above him but her presence was threatening to overtake him and if he slipped again, like he had in the very same elevator a few days before, he wasn't sure if he would be able to save himself from her.

"George…" he heard her rasp out behind him.

"Iz… Just…Just don't" George said, dejected. He kept his focus in front of him.

The word avoidance flashed across Izzie's mind once more, but this time it made her angry. She would not avoid her best friend so much that she would loose him. It was time to face their mistake head on.

"No, George, let's do," she said, stepping forward and pulling the emergency break. The elevator came to a grinding halt.

"Wha.." George said, surprised that they were no longer moving. "Izzie, what are you doing?"

He pushed the red button back in and felt the compartment start the slow pull upward again.

"We need to talk," Izzie said, sounding confident as she pulled the red breaker once again.

George felt the sudden stop once more and shook his head.

"No," he pushed the button in again. "We really, really don't."

"Yes," Izzie pulled the button out once again causing another stop. "We do."

"Would you stop doing that!"

Izzie side stepped him and stood in front of the panel so he couldn't push the button to get them moving again. She looked him in the eyes to get his attention.

"We need to talk," she said, firmly.

"Now?" he asked, incredulously.

"Yes. This isn't right," she said, motioning the space between them. "You can't tell me this is right for us."

"Yeah, you holding me hostage in a elevator isn't right," he said, making a swipe to get around her, but Izzie caught him by the shoulders with both hands and held him at arms length.

George was surprised at the sudden move, which forced him to directly face her. She kept her hands on his shoulders and kept his gaze.

"George," she said, softly.

George swallowed hard and stepped back. He felt her hands fall away with the movement.

He saw the determined look in her eyes and knew just how stubborn this girl could be. If she believed in something, she would stick by it until the day when she didn't have anything else left in her to give.

Rather this was her greatest strength or greatest weakness was another story.

He shook his head. "There's nothing…"

Before he could finish Izzie interrupted.

"Mercy West… you don't belong there."

George looked down in frustration and closed his eyes to fight off the headache he could feel coming.

"You going there can't be the solution. It's just not…"

"Izzie!" George barked, irritated by her unwillingness to let things go. His outburst silenced the blonde doctor. "This isn't something I need your approval on. This is my choice. I don't need to discuss my decisions with you. You are not my wife."

Izzie felt his words hit her like a bus.

George took the moment to reach around her and push the emergency button back in one last time.

Izzie stood frozen as he turned back to the front of the elevator. She couldn't believe how much his words had stung her. He knew just exactly what to say to shut her up. And that made her see red with anger.

"Don't give me that bull sh…" She said, angry. She reached back for the breaker once more but before she could pull the red button or even finish her sentence the lights above them flickered and the elevator shook.

Izzie gasped in surprise at the sudden movement and reached out for George's arm. He grabbed her back and held her until the small elevator came to a halt. The back up lights kicked on and gave the small compartment dim lighting to see by.

George looked over at Izzie and quickly pulled his hands back. Izzie noticed him pull away as she looked over at him and swallowed hard.

"What just happened?" she asked, shocked.

"Oh just great! You broke the elevator!"

"Oh, please! I didn't even touch the breaker that time!"

"Well I'm sure all the stopping has just done wonders for it!"

"Whatever, George. This has never happened to me before unlike you. So if anyone is the cause of this it's you!"

George grumbled as he shoved passed her to get to the panel of buttons and pressed for the next floor but nothing happened. He tried pushing a few other buttons but once again found them to be useless. He pressed the emergency button and listened for an alarm but all he heard was silence.

He looked back at Izzie and noticed she was back to leaning against the railing with her arms loosely crossed, watching his every move. He turned back around and pushed the emergency button repeatedly.


	2. Chapter 2

>>

Callie found Meredith and Cristina eating their lunch in the cafeteria inside the hospital. No doubt because of the raging storm outside preventing them from meeting at their usual table in the outdoor area.

"Hey," she said walking up to their table with a trey in hand. "Have you guys seen George? We were supposed to have lunch together."

"I saw him earlier getting a patient's test results for Burke," Meredith offered. "But that was a while ago."

Callie nodded but Meredith could see she the other doctor's mind was somewhere else.

"Do you guys have lunch together every day?" Cristina asked, cynically.

"Well not every day, but yeah I'd like it if we could. Today he said he wanted to, too. But of course, he's not here," the dark hair raven said, annoyed as she looked around the room for her husband.

"Well I'm sure he just got caught up in a patient or something," Meredith said, trying to calm the other woman's nerves.

"Or caught up in Stevens," Callie muttered.

"God I hope Burke doesn't want to do the lunch thing everyday after we get married. That would just kill," Cristina said, bluntly.

Both women looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"What? I gotta have space. This is my space," she said, gesturing to their table.

Callie looked at her with a furrowed brow.

"Whatever," she muttered before turning and walking over to Addison's table and sitting down.

Meredith watched Callie as she talked to Addison. She could see that she was once again complaining to the other woman about her husband.

"Do you think she's this controlling in bed with George as she is out side of it?" Cristina asked with a smirk on her face.

Meredith giggled at her friend before answering. "I dunno. I try not to think of anything that involves sex and George since the last time I did it almost caused the start of the apocalypse."

"Hey, did you guys hear that the hospital was struck by lightening again?" Alex said as he sat down at the table with them.

"Ooh maybe we'll get some lightening victim's today. We haven't had one of those in a while," Cristina said, excitedly. "I call first dibs!"

"You're a strange strange girl," Meredith said while taking a bit of her apple.

"And you have apocalyptic causing emo sex. What's your point?"

Meredith threw her napkin at her friend across the table.

>>

George was pacing back and forth in the small compartment as Izzie watched while sitting on the floor behind him. It had been at least 30 minutes since the elevator had come to a complete stop between floors and with every minute that passed the temperature rose. She had taken off her lab coat and chucked it to floor beside her.

George had spent the first 20 minutes pushing every button on the panel, trying to get someone's attention on the small intercom. For the last ten minutes he had been walking back and forth muttering to himself about his luck. It was starting to get on her nerves.

Her beeper had gone off twice since she had been in there and the heat was starting to become unbearable, but you didn't see her panicking.

"George stop with the pacing, you're going to make me motion sick."

"Where is everybody?" He asked, frantically as he went back and pushed the intercom button repeatedly again. "Heeellloo?!?! Anyone?!"

"Panicking isn't going to help, George. Jeez I thought you would be use to this since you've been here before."

"Last time I had to perform open heart surgery solo. My mind was a little preoccupied. And I'm not panicking!" He kept his back to her as he tried pushing every button on the panel again.

Izzie just shook her head as she watched him from behind.

Just then Bailey's voice came over the intercom.

"Hello? Anyone in there?"

>>

"Dude, did you hear about O'Malley and Stevens being stuck in the elevator?" Alex said, coming up to Cristina and Meredith as they filled out patient's charts at the nurse's station.

"Seriously? Again?" Meredith asked.

"Yeah. That guy is like the grim ripper for elevators." Alex snorted shaking his head.

"Is he stuck in there with another heart patient? I'm going be pissed if he is. He has the best luck," Cristina said.

"Nope just him and Izzie this time."

"Oh it would have been more interesting if he could have gone solo again on a super surgery. I'm going to have to remember to start riding more elevators with him," Cristina said, mostly to herself.

"It wasn't that super," Alex said, rolling his eyes.

"Aww, evil spawn jealous of bambi still? How sweet." Cristina mocked, pocking her bottom lip out at him.

"Are they both okay?" Meredith asked, concerned. "How long until they're out?"

Alex just shrugged. "Don't know. Didn't care enough to find out."

With that he walked off.

"I wonder if either one of them had any good cases that now need attending too?" Cristina said, walking away in the other direction leaving Meredith behind.

"Well aren't we just the loving bunch," Meredith said to no one in particular as she went back to her charts.

>>

George was back to pacing back and forth while Izzie was back to leaning against the railing just watching him.

It was about to drive him crazy. He had been doing so well with avoiding her and then this had to happen. He really hated the elevators at Seattle Grace and was beginning to think they hated him as well.

What was worst was that Izzie was so calm, which only made him more nervous. It wasn't that he was afraid of them falling to their painful fates, even if he did deserve that death, he was afraid of what he might do in close quarters with his best friend. He was afraid he would fall in a way that didn't have anything to with bone breaking impacts.

It killed him every time he thought about how weak he was. It had only been a few days since he had kissed his best friend in the very elevator they were stuck in now and it had taken every bit of his will power to avoid her since then. Now here he was stuck and nowhere to hide from her.

His wife didn't deserve what he was doing to her. She was innocent and deserved better. She loved him with her whole heart. And it was a love he needed after the whole Meredith fiasco and what he thought he needed after his father died.

But things were so complicated and hard between them. She always wanted the next step way before the next step had even registered in his mind. He didn't think a relationship should be that hard but he couldn't tell her that. Especially after what he done with Izzie and how easy it was to make such a complicated mistake with her. He had fallen into their one night of passion with more ease than any night he had spent married to his wife and that thought made him hate himself.

"George I can tell you're panicking again," Izzie said, breaking into his thoughts.

"I'm not panicking. I'm just…" He said, looking at her for the first time since they had heard from Bailey an hour ago. When he saw how flushed she looked from the stuffy atmosphere he flashed back to the night they were together and remember the same flushed look she had in the midst of their passion.

George promptly looked away and turned back to the panel of buttons. He pressed the intercom button but Bailey had already left to go tend to patients.

"Its just… what's taking so long?" He asked.

"You heard Bailey, apparently the storm of the century is raging outside and it's going to be a while before the repair man can get here."

"We are in one of the most technologically advanced hospitals on the west coast, how can their elevators suck so much?"

"Cause their spending their money on all the most technologically advanced hospital stuff instead?" Izzie smiled trying to lighten the mood.

George didn't notice though because he was to busy pressing his forehead against the cool metal doors, trying to find some sort of relief from the oppressing heat.

He was supposed to be having lunch with his wife. Once again he had broken his promise to her and somehow ended up right back with the one person that would hurt her the most.

"I betcha Cristina and Alex are fighting over my possible amputee guy as we speak," Izzie joked, once more. But once again George stayed silent.

Izzie sighed heavily. She felt badly for him. Clearly he had been trying his best to avoid a situation like this. His words had hurt earlier but she didn't believe he meant them. He was just going in for the easy kill.

"Look, I'm sorry George," Izzie tried. "I didn't mean for this to happen."

"Stop it," George muttered, keeping his head pressed against the cool metal. "Just stop with the apologies."

"I'm just saying that I'm sorry that we're stuck."

"It was the lightening. Bailey said so," George said, despondently.

"Yeah but I'm not just talking about the elevator," Izzie said, simply.

George moaned and lifted his head and let it fall heavily against the surface several times to show his frustrations.

"Not this again."

"I just think that we need to talk."

"What's the point? I'll talk, you won't listen, and then we'll be right back at the start."

"See, there you go. There's the problem," Izzie said, narrowing her eyes at him. "You talk. You tell me how it's going to be and say all these words about mistakes and making it right but its not. It's not right, George."

When he didn't respond she continued on.

"We never even left the start because we never really faced what happened between us to begin with. You were all… let's sweep it under the rug and pretend it never happened for Callie's sake, but screw the friendship and feelings that got swept right along with it. Your plan sucks."

George shot around and glared at her.

"Our… our plan sucks!" he sputtered, angry. "I mean it was our plan!"

"No no," Izzie said, getting angry again herself. "You were the one that said we weren't going to tell Callie. You were the one that said it was going to be our secret to keep. You decided that for both of us."

"You were the one who said we were fine!"

"Yeah, clearly I was lying. Remember? You," she said, gesturing to him with a wave of the hand. "Equal to my penis fish."

"Yes, thank you for reminding me of that lovely analogy! Do you think this is easy for me? Do you think that what happened between us…and everything afterwards…that it's not killing me?"

Izzie closed her eyes to fight the tears that she could feel springing up. "Of course not."

"Then why? Why keep bringing it up and trying to change the plan?"

"Because I hate your stupid plan!"

"You know what I hate? I hate that my wife feels inferior to you!"

Izzie kept her head casted down.

"I hate that I gave her a reason to feel inferior to you. I hate what I did to her!"

George could feel he was turning red with anger. He could also see that Izzie had gone incredibly still with hurt but he couldn't stop himself.

"I hate that she looks at me and all she sees is a good man. I hate that I'm not. I hate that I'm the guy who cheats on his wife!"

George spat out while stepping closer to Izzie.

"I hate that I'm breaking her heart and she doesn't even know it! I hate what all you've done to me!"

Izzie bit her lip in hopes it would help her stop the sobs that were waiting to erupt from her. She felt George step closure to her and she suddenly didn't want to be there anymore.

"I hate that I can't get you out of my head! I hate that I can't get our night out of my head! I hate that when I'm laying next my wife in our bed that I'm thinking of you! I hate that I still feel you everywhere! I hate that I try my damndest to avoid you and yet secretly wish I could run into you, just to see you!"

George was breathing hard and his throat felt rough from his yelling but he continued on.

"I hate that when those doors opened up earlier," He yelled, pointed back at the elevator doors. "And you were standing here, it felt like it was the first time I could breathe today!"

George stepped closer to Izzie, which placed him right in front of her. He placed both hands on the wall on either side of her but made sure not to touch her. She was still keeping her head down and he could tell each word was hitting her hard.

"I hate the way you make me feel!"

He heard her make a noise that was somewhere between a sob and a sniffle and he clinched his teeth.

"I hate you, Izzie Stevens." He rasped out.

Izzie's head popped up as tears slid down her face. She looked at the man before her in astonishment.

"I hate you," He said again, his voice cracking this time.

They were both breathing hard now. Izzie looked at his red face and could see the anger etched across his features. She could feel the anger radiating off his body coming in waves with each breath, threatening to over take her. But when she looked into his eyes she saw something completely different.

He was shaking in rage. He was inches from her and he could feel her with every fiber of his being.

Izzie wanted to slap him. She wanted to slap him for all the hurtful words he was saying to her, but she couldn't. She couldn't do anything but let the heat between them wash over her. She was paralyzed from the passionate look in his eyes.

"I hate you," He gritted out in a rough whisper.

Finally, he quickly leaned in and kissed her roughly on the lips. The sudden impact made her slam against the wall behind her and Izzie moaned against his lips from the sudden movement.

Izzie slid her arms around his neck and into his hair. She matched the intensity of his kiss.

"God, I.." He muttered around her lips, "..hate.." He felt Izzie press forward against him and he slammed them back against the wall. "…hate you so much."

Izzie felt his hands fall on her hips as he pulled her into him again.

She broke away from the frantic kiss and buried her face in his neck as she rocked against him and they both moaned from intoxicating friction it caused.

He kissed her all along her neck and it sent tingles across her body. She then felt one of his hands slide around to her back to keep her movement going while the other snuck around to the front to untie the drawstrings of her scrubs.

Izzie eagerly pushed at his scrub pants as George kissed her once more on the lips. They both slid to the floor lost in their passion for each other.


	3. Chapter 3

>>

"Hey, did they ever get George and Izzie out of the elevator?" Meredith asked Bailey as they were walking out of a patient's room.

They came up to the chief who was waiting in the hall for them.

"No, not yet. You would think a fine hospital like this one would have learned its lesson the last time one of elevators went down." Bailey said, pointedly.

The chief crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at the outspoken doctor.

"But I guess we're all bound to make the same mistake twice." Bailey said, nonchalantly while placing a file on the desk in front of the nurses' station. "I guess all that matters is that you learn your lesson at some point."

"What's the ETA on the repair man?" Chief Webber asked.

"Still stuck across town."

"Looks like the nasty weather is bringing everyone in, except the repair man." Meredith said, looking around at the busy hospital.

"Hmm, right," the Chief said, nodding his understanding. The ER had been packed with emergencies that the bad weather was causing. "And how are O'Malley and Stevens?"

"Bored I'm sure, sir." Bailey said, turning towards the older man. "But I really wouldn't know. Now that I'm down two interns I've been swamp with work more than usual and haven't had the chance to check on them in a while."

Before the Chief could say anything Cristina walked up and interrupted.

"Dr. Bailey," Cristina said, the short doctor looked at her intern with a look telling her it better be good if she was going to interrupt their conversation. "Sorry... I was hoping you would let me assist on the amputee guy… " off her residence's look of annoyance she quickly added, "Mr. Carlyle…Mr. Carlyle's possible double amputee case. I helped Dr. Torr.…er… O'Malley with an amputee case a few weeks ago and I think I would be of great assistance with this one. I would really enjoy seeing another one first hand."

"I don't have any control over that case. Shouldn't you be brown-noising Dr. O'Malley on this one?"

"Yes, but I was hoping you would put in a good word for me. I saw Alex talking to her earlier and… well I would really appreciate it."

Bailey closed her eyes and shook her head in annoyance. "Fine. I'll talk to Dr. O'Malley for you."

Cristina breathed a sigh of relief as Meredith smiled at her. Both women turned to go.

"But," Bailey said, making both women stop in their tracks.

"I knew that was too easy for you," Meredith whispered to her friend as they turned around.

"I need for you to check in on George and Izzie and keep them company for a little bit while they are stuck."

"But but the surgery is…" Cristina sputtered.

"Not until this evening. You'll have plenty of time. And besides you'll be going over some of the procedures before hand, correct? Do it then."

"But…"

"But nothing Dr. Yang. If the roles were reversed, trust me, you would want somebody to take away the time."

Cristina looked at the chief in hopes he would back her up but to her disappointment he just watched with interest.

Meredith was fighting not to let the smile of amusement break out over her face, but she was finding that task to be a hard one.

"Grey, you'll go to make sure she goes." Bailey said to the smirking doctor.

Meredith's smile automatically dropped. Cristina looked over and smirked back at her friend.

"What?... Wait. I have patients. There are patients that need doctoring and I should be doing that."

Bailey looked at both women standing in front of her and crossed her ams.

"Why do I get the interns who think they know everything? Who think they are smart enough to go over my decisions? Who think that I don't hold their precious little dream of becoming a surgeon in my hands? When I tell you lowly interns to do something I expect you to not only do it but also do it with a smile on your face! You may not like it, but tough, because your lowly interns and that's what you're suppose to do. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes 'mam," Both girls said, putting on fake smiles and nodding their heads.

"Besides, I'm not saying to spend all evening with them. Just check up with them every so often and let them know we haven't forgotten about them."

Both interns begrudgingly nodded and turned around to walk the other way.

"Nicely played, Miranda, nicely played," The chief said, smiling down at the shorter woman.

"Thank you, Chief."

"Well I see you have everything under control here," with that he turned and walked off.

"Yes, sir. Everything's under control under my watch." Bailey said, proudly to herself as she pulled out another chart in front of her.

>>

"So what are we suppose to do play 20 questions with them?" Cristina asked, sarcastically as they climbed the stairs to the control room of the hospital.

"I can't believe you drug us both into this." Meredith said. "You with your possible double amputee guy… You had to know you were walking into a mine field with that one!"

"Look Alex beat me to Callie," She explained. "I had to try something."

"Well you know Callie will pretty much let anyone in on her surgeries as long as your name isn't Izzie Stevens."

"Yeah, what's up with that?"

"I don't know. Definitely something weird. And it probably involves a lot of drama, something of which I definitely don't need more of in my life right now," Meredith sighed out heavily.

"Well those two haven't exactly got along since George blindly jumped onto the Callie express. Maybe its nothing. Callie's all dark and grr and Izzie's all bright and 'the-world-is-so-shiny', complete opposites really. So maybe it's just some good ole fashion hate," Cristina said, casually.

"I dunno though. Looks like something more. I just can't quite put my finger on it. They're all acting weird."

Cristina just shrugged her shoulders as she opened the door to control room.

"Besides I thought you were the all 'dark and grr' one," Meredith teased, following her into the room.

"No, I'm the cold and competitive one, which is completely different," she said, "Now lets get this over with. I don't care what Bailey says, I'm not babysitting those two all day."

Both women walked up to the control booth, which had an assortment of buttons, lights, and computer screens.

"Which one is the elevator intercom?"

"I don't know," Cristina said. "Just push a button."

"Nothing good ever happens when that's said in a movie," Meredith said. "You do it.'

"You're the chief's favorite. If something blows up or something important turns off you're more likely to get away with it."

Meredith scoffed. "You're the one marrying Burke!"

"And you've got McDreamy. 2-to-1. You're it."

"Yeah but Addison probably still hates me a little over the whole Derek thing so she would probably vote against me."

"You've also got that whole dirty-whores club thing with McSteamy. Face it, no matter which way you cut it you could go all serial killer in this hospital and still come away with the favorite intern of the year award."

"Fine," Meredith grumbled, finally giving in. "And it's the dirty mistress' club!"

She tried a red button at the top of the booth but nothing happened. She tried several more but nothing but silence greeted them.

"Fine let me try," Cristina said, pressing buttons on her side of the booth.

Once again nothing happened, so they both started pressing buttons. Suddenly, loud noises of painting and grunting came over the intercom speaker. Both women tilted their heads to the side in confusion.

"Ohh Izzie," George grunted out.

Meredith's eyes went wide.

"Are they…?" Cristina asked, surprised.

"Make it stop! Make it stop!" Meredith said, covering her ears up from the loud noises coming from the elevator.

"Which button was it?" Cristina said, frantically pushing buttons again.

"I don't know we pressed so many!" Meredith said, pressing buttons again herself.

Finally, Cristina hit the right button and the room fell into silence. Both women stood in shock in front of the booth.

"Well I guess Callie isn't in control of all of George's life." Cristina deadpanned.

Meredith looked over at her friend with a raised eyebrow and they both burst out into laughter.

But the laughing came to a sudden halt when the control room door swung open widely and the chief, who was completely out of breath, stood in the entrance way.

Both women jumped at the sudden appearance of the older man who looked like he had ran the whole way there.

"Meredith did it!" Cristina blurted out, suddenly.

Meredith's mouth fell open as she turned to her friend in shock.

"Outside. Now." Dr. Webber huffed out.

After the two interns turned to look at each other he continued.

"Both of you."

They both reluctantly came out of the room and stood out in the hall where the older man was pacing the floor in front of them.

Meredith and Cristina looked at each other in worry.

"If something important turned off or blew up or whatever… well sorry we didn't know what we were doing. There were so many buttons…" Meredith tried to explain.

"Yeah tons of them!" Cristina threw in her support.

"And.. And Dr. Bailey just said to keep George and Izzie company so they wouldn't get bored…well I think they've gotten that taken care of themselves," Meredith tried saying with a straight face but found it hard when she heard Cristina snort beside her. "But if we did something…"

"The intercom." The chief mumbled.

"I'm sorry, sir?" Cristina said, not understanding him. He spun around to face her.

"One of the many buttons up there is the intercom button! One of the many buttons you pressed was the intercom button!"

"Oh," Cristina said, simply but then his words sunk in. "Ohhh."

"Wait you mean, people could hear us all over the hospital?" Meredith said, still not quite getting it. "Oh wait that means… uh oh."

"Uh oh is right," he exclaimed. "Uh oh was just broadcasted all across the damn hospital!"

"Well… that couldn't be good," Cristina said, dryly.


	4. Chapter 4

>>

Callie walked back into the hospital after spending most of the afternoon working in the new clinic. She decided it was probably the best place to hide from George. Since he had skipped their lunch with her, she was going to make it hard for him to find her when he realized his mistake.

However, much to Callie's disappointment her husband never came looking for her. She didn't know rather to be mad that he had skipped out on her or be sad at the fact that he hadn't even noticed it yet.

A doctor from psychology department walked passed her and gave her a smile that gave her a chill. She shook her head at the odd look and continued down the hallway.

She pushed the thoughts of her endless problems with her husband to the back of her mind as she came up to the nurses' station. Two nurses talking behind the booth tensed up when she stopped at the station and quickly dropped their conversation. Callie raised an eyebrow at the normally gabby nurses. She knew she had made a few scenes around the hospital with George, but she didn't think people should be looking at her like she was ready to snap, unless of course, Izzie Stephens was in front of her.

"Um… Hi," Callie said, carefully. "Do I have any calls?"

One of the nurses quickly shook her head no.

"No one has been looking for me have they… like say my wayward husband?" Callie joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Both nurses' eyes went wide and quickly shook their heads no.

"Okay…well thanks, I guess," She said, before turning around and walking off towards the locker rooms.

As she opened the door to the locker room, two interns, who were whispering to each other on they way out, stopped in their tracks. Callie furrowed her brow at the odd behavior and step around them as they continued their way out off the room whispering to each other once again. She tried to hear what they were saying as they were walking out of the room, but all she could hear was the sound of their laughter as the door swung shut.

She was hoping she would find her husband in the locker rooms. She could sometimes find him there, usually with one of his friends. However, most times he was with a naturally gorgeous tall blonde friend of his much to her disappointment.

As she made her way around the lockers she stopped when she saw Alex at his locker. He had a hard look on his face as he roughly threw a book into his locker. He then slammed the door shut hard, an action that made Callie flinch.

"That kind of day, huh?" Callie said, breaking the silence.

Alex turned to her in surprise.

"Yeah, you could say that."

"Well same here," She laughed, bitterly. "I would say those kind of days seem to come abundant in this hospital."

Alex just shook his head in agreement. They both stood in awkward silence for a few moments, neither knowing what to say. She hadn't really spent much time with the other male intern of Bailey's group, other than a few surgeries. All she really knew about him was what George had told her and that was never a pleasant report. Apparently, the two had never gotten along very well.

"So you still want in on the possible double amputee surgery tonight?"

Alex just stared at her for a second before Callie continued on.

"I've found that good surgeries make crappy days better. It's all about avoidance, you know?"

Alex nodded his understanding as he thought about her words.

"Cool." He said, simply.

Callie looked around at the empty room and saw that her husband was nowhere to be found once again.

"Right. Well I guess I'll see you in the scrub room then. Don't be late." She said, turning around.

On her way out Alex called out.

"Dr. Torres."

Callie turned around at the sound of her maiden name. She looked at the other doctor oddly. She was just starting to get use to being called an O'Malley, to hear her maiden name seemed strange.

She was about to correct the other doctor but he continued on before she could do so.

"I liked it better as Torres. Sounds better."

Callie furrowed her eyebrows at him. "Um okay. Whatever."

With that she turned and left.

>>

Izzie stared up at George above her. His eyes were focused on her lips and she could tell he was thinking about kissing them again.

That was the funny thing about being best friends. You could always tell what the other one was thinking. Tell what move they were about to take before they took action. But Izzie didn't see this coming. She couldn't foresee him taking the step from controlled rage and anger to uncontrollable urges and sinfully delicious passion.

She lifted her hand and slid it through his hair before pulling his head roughly down to hers for a kiss that matched the rhythm that he had set with his body. It was a kind of kiss she had never imagined he was capable of before she knew him this way. A time when they were just best friends and she could read his mind and knew his every move, before when he wasn't capable of sending her rushing over the edge with the tips of his fingers and rhythm of his body.

An edge she was rapidly approaching for the second time since he had started his ravage of her body. When he roughly pulled away in the middle of the kiss, nipping at her lips along the way, she could see in his face that he was right there on the edge with her.

His face was red from concentration while wisps of his hair swept across his forehead and down into his eyes from his unwavering movement. She reached up to gently brush it back. A move that must have surprised him because she felt a shiver run across his body as he looked down and locked eyes with her.

She was once again allowed to read his mind. She could still see the anger she saw before. He was mad with himself for being unable to control his urges and furious that he didn't want this to stop anytime soon. He was putting all of his anger into every move he made. Izzie allowed him to vent through action because she knew how he felt because she felt the same way. She didn't know how something so shameful could feel so right.

Izzie kept her focus on his eyes because behind the anger was something more. A look that was familiar. She had seen the same look when their first mistake took place.

He must have read her thoughts because he suddenly squeezed his eyes shut and dropped his head down to her the nook of her neck as he tried to stave off the ending.

They were both breathing hard as their hearts raced. His grip tightened around her waist.

"Hate..I…hate…I…" he started, but couldn't finish the sentence.

Izzie took her hand that wasn't buried in his hair and lifted his chin to force him to look at her again.

"Love…" She said, firmly, keeping his fierce gaze. "…Just Love."

The look on his face soften as he nodded once before he let his body go over the edge, sending her over right along with him.

> 


	5. Chapter 5

>>

Meredith was filling out a chart when Cristina walked up and leaned heavily on the nurses' station desk while Olivia sat behind a monitor behind the desk.

"So are you ready for Callie's surgery?" Meredith asked turning to look for another file on the chart rack.

"Yeah," Cristina said, unenthusiastically.

Meredith looked over at her friend curiously.

"What's this?" She said, gesturing to the other doctor's somber mood. "Where's the inappropriate excitement? Where's the cold and competitive side? Where's the unnatural pre-surgery high? It's a possible double amputee case. I thought you would be biting at the bit for it. What happened?"

"George and Izzie happened," She said, grudgingly. "Now I have to go into surgery with the scorned wife and it's going to be all awkward and weird. God I hope she doesn't want to talk about it. I'm a surgeon not a quack doc. I don't do consoling, I cut."

Meredith smiled at her friend.

"Who knew Dr. Cristina Yang would ever dread a surgery."

"I know, right? Damn George and Izzie for ruining a perfectly good surgery."

"Have you heard how Callie took finding out about them?" Meredith asked, going back to looking for a specific chart.

"Well I haven't heard gun shots yet so that's got to be a good sign, right?" Cristina joked.

"You know who isn't taking it well?" Olivia said, making both interns turn towards her and notice her for the first time. "Alex. I heard a few lockers in the locker room got the bad end of the deal when he heard George and Izzie doing…well you know."

Meredith cringed when she thought about the other male intern who was just starting to get over Izzie.

"Oooh I guess this is a blow to the old macho ego for Alex," Cristina said, smirking.

"More like a complete blow out," Olivia agreed.

"Poor Alex. But he's been putting in a lot of his time with Ava and moving on from Izzie, so I'm sure he'll be fine," Meredith said, bent over the chart rack still looking over charts. "Has anyone seen Mrs. Harris' chart? I swear its no where to be found."

Olivia stood up and went over to the rack that Meredith was hunched over and went straight to the chart she was looking for, she handed the surprised intern the chart.

"Who would have ever thought George would cheat on his wife with Izzie of all people?" Olivia said, shaking her head.

"Seriously. Bambi must be a real Viking in the sack. You gotta give him props 'cause his track record is hot in this hospital," Cristina snorted. "I mean he's landed the both of you…who's next?"

Both Olivia and Meredith turned towards her and looked at the dark hair intern with suggestive smiles.

"Ooh don't even go there, syph nurse and the dirty mistress leader," Cristina warned, pointing at both of them.

Before they could retort back they all noticed Callie coming down the hallway.

"Oh. Scorned wife alert. Gotta go." Cristina whispered, quickly as all three women turned and briskly went in different directions.

"Yang!" Callie called out.

Cristina stopped in her tracks and cursed under her breath before slowly turning around to the approaching doctor.

"Did you all just…bolt when you saw me coming?" She asked, narrowing her eyes at her.

"Ha! No no of course not. Meredith just had to run off to do doctor stuff with a chart she lost earlier and Olivia ran off to do nurse stuff…whatever that is."

Callie watched her for a second as if to determine to believe her or not.

"Uh huh, well Bailey asked to let you in on the possible double amputee surgery, so you better be ready. If the bacteria has spread deeply on both of his legs we'll have some serious cutting to do."

"Oh yes, I am. Done the research. Practiced the procedures. Definitely ready."

Callie nodded. "Good. Then go prepare Mr. Carlyle for surgery. We'll be taking him back soon."

"Right." Cristina said, glad to have the chance to get away from any potential awkward moments with the other doctor. "I'll go do that now."

As she was turning to leave Callie called out once more.

"Oh, Yang?"

Cristina rolled her eyes before turning around to the other doctor.

"Have you seen George anywhere?"

Cristina sucked in a breath of air before answering.

"Uh. No. No, actually I haven't seen him anywhere."

"Hmm. Okay, well I'll see you in the scrub room." She said, nonchalantly.

Cristina studied the dark haired doctor as she turned to leave. Cristina's eyes went wide when she realized something.

"Oh. You don't know, do you?"

Callie turned back. "What? Know what?"

"Oh…well...uh…" She thought about George and Izzie. She could tell the other woman what was going on. What everyone else in the hospital already knew. She deserved to know. She was about to be a wife herself, so she should feel some compassion. She thought about George and Izzie once more before swallowing hard and continued.

"…well… George is stuck in one of the elevators. He has been for most of the day."

Callie thought about what she had just told her and a small smile spread across her face.

"Really?" She asked, her face brightening up from the news. For her it meant that her husband hadn't skipped out on their lunch. "Wow. How come no one has told me yet?"

Cristina just shrugged her answer. She felt bad for the other doctor, which surprised her. She didn't really have any connection with the woman other than George and the fact that she was about to be a new wife herself. Seeing her bright expression at the thought of her husband proving her wrong in her earlier accusations, only to really be more right than she would ever know, made something shift inside of Cristina.

"Well maybe I can stop by the control room and check up on him before the surgery." Callie said, mostly to herself.

"No, you can't!" Cristina blurted out.

Callie looked at her with a furrow brow.

"Why not?"

"Well… I just think that it would probably be best if you came and explained the surgery to Mr. Carlyle before he goes down to the surgery room."

"Why can't you do that? You're the intern."

"Yes! Exactly," she explained. "I'm the intern. There's a chance he's going to loose both of his legs today, he'd probably like to hear a little assurance from the actual surgeon herself, you know?"

Callie thought about her words for a moment.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Let's go so we can get this surgery over with, so I can go check on George."

Cristina just nodded as Callie passed by. She sighed heavily as she followed the orthopedic doctor down the hallway.

>>

Cristina stood behind Callie as she explained the procedure to Mr. Carlyle and his wife. Alex stood beside her with Mr. Carlyle's chart in hand.

"So you're saying he might loose both of his legs if this infection is bad enough?" His wife asked, concerned.

"I'm afraid so," Callie said, regretfully. "We will try of course to get most of the bacteria out, but if the infection has spread to the bones, than I'm afraid there isn't much we can do for his legs."

The worried wife looked at her husband, who looked like he was over whelmed from all of the information.

"Maybe we should go for a second opinion," Mrs. Carlyle said, apprehensively to her husband. "Maybe there's another way to fix this with out the possibility of taking both of your legs."

"It's too late in the game," Alex informed her pointedly. "If you had come in when you first noticed the problem, you could probably afford the time to fix the situation."

"I'm afraid Dr. Karev is right. At this point and time the best thing we can do is wait and see what we find in surgery. We'll try our best to save his legs, but prepare yourselves if it's too late." Callie said.

"You know it's funny," Mr. Carlyle said, speaking up for the first time since they had started explaining how the surgery would go. "I've always had problems with my legs, ever since the very start. The doctor's tried putting braces on them when I was a kid, which of course prompted cruel ridicule and torment on the playground. But I got through that. I grew up and while I wasn't exactly running 5k's with them, I was doing okay. Or at least I thought I was doing okay. But the problem was always just been laying right beneath the surface the whole time."

"You're medical history with your legs is probably why the infection spread so quickly," Cristina explained to the devastated couple.

"Damned from the very beginning, huh?" Mr. Carlyle laughed out, bitterly.

Cristina and Alex both looked over at the orthopedic surgeon.

"Mr. Carlyle, let me assure you that we will be trying all that we can to save them. The infection may not be as deep as we think. Or we may be able to stop the infection all together and still keep your legs. Don't loose hope just yet." Callie said, confidently.

"Right. Well I guess we'll have to do like you say, wait and see what you find in the surgery room. We can't save anything unless its all out in the open," Mr. Carlyle said, looking over at his wife giving her a reassuring smile. "So let's do it."

>>

Izzie and George sat side by side with their backs to the wall. They were now fully clothed and back to looking like they were only best friends.

More hours had inched by since they had lost themselves in each other and they were now just staring ahead at the metal doors in front of them. They hadn't heard from Bailey or anyone else in the hospital for hours now. Izzie looked at her watch and noticed the hospital was well into its night shift and yet they were still stuck in the elevator. She wondered if everyone had forgotten about them, but every once in a while they would hear the slight rumble of thunder, a reminder of the reason why they weren't out yet.

She looked over at George who was beside her, his shoulder touching hers, his legs extended out beside hers. She tried to read the emotions on his face but there were none. He was just staring blankly in front of him. He looked calm. Or maybe numb, she couldn't decide which emotion he was feeling.

It was just as well. She couldn't tell which emotion she was currently feeling either. She felt a little numb herself.

It was funny how having incredible sex could relieve the intense tension between two people, especially for people who weren't use to having intense tension between them.

Izzie turned her attention back to the doors in front of them. She thought about how they had come to their current state. They had gone from silence, to a screaming match, to a completely different type of screaming match, to now where they were back to silence. A complete circle but somehow this silence was different from the one that they had started out with. She didn't feel like they were back at the beginning. More like at a plateau and it was either time to jump or turn and go back.

>>


	6. Chapter 6

>>

Cristina looked over at the blissfully unaware patient as Callie finished up on his left leg. He had no clue what was going on around him, a state that she was sometimes jealous of. She only wished that you could have anesthesia for certain times in life.

"This has to be a record for how badly the bacteria got," Alex said, nodding at the area where Mr. Carlyle's legs use to be. "I mean I haven't seen an infection look that radical…well… ever."

"I know, right?" Callie said, her eyes showing her smile from behind her surgical mask. "I can't believe they let it get this bad. It's a wonder the man isn't dead. He should have figured out that he had a problem a long time ago, even then there probably wasn't much hope for them."

Cristina looked over at the empty space where the legs once were and let out a small sigh. She knew his wife would be extremely disappointed with the outcome. She couldn't blame her of course. She still remembers the feeling she felt when she found out that Burke might loose the ability to perform surgeries because of his injured arm.

"Yang, what's with you?" Callie said, bringing Cristina's attention back to the surgery. "You've been all quiet and ominous during this, with how much you sucked up to get in on this surgery I thought you would be more into it."

"Yeah, seriously, Yang," Alex agreed, standing beside the orthopedic surgeon. "You not trying to hog all the teaching procedures and good standing space is just weird. It's like you're not excited about the surgery."

"No no I'm excited. Radical bone destroying bacteria, woo. Very exciting."

Callie and Alex just glanced over at her from their spot across the table as if they didn't believe her.

"Right. Well Dr. Karev since you've been such a studious intern today would you like to finish up the left leg?"

"Seriously?" Alex asked, surprised.

"Seriously." Callie said. "After today you've earned it, I'm sure."

Cristina would have rolled her eyes if she didn't think it would get her kicked out of the surgery. She should have told the orthopedic surgeon what was really going on in the elevator of lust when she had the chance, but she didn't. She just couldn't bring herself too. Not because she was trying to spare Callie's feelings but because before she realized it she was covering for George and Izzie. Much in the same way she covered for Izzie during the whole Denny debacle. She was a little pissed at the fact that her fellow interns were making her soft.

>>

Bailey watched as the man in the blue repair shirt walked down the hallway with his toolbox in hand.

"The guy says he can have it fixed in no time," The chief said, coming up beside her.

"Wished it was that simple for everything," Bailey said, simply.

"Tell me about it," The older man said. "Remind me to implement a no relationship among co-workers rule next year."

Bailey looked unbelievingly at the older man, giving him a look to let him know he was one to be talking.

Dr. Webber cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Do you think we could make an intern tell them the news about what everyone heard them doing earlier in the elevator?"

"Nope, afraid not, sir. Not in their job description."

"What about residence's?" He said, looking down at her.

She just looked up at him with a fixed look and crossed her arms.

>>

"George…" Izzie whispered, keeping her head facing forward.

"...I know…" George whispered back. "…we need to talk."

Izzie smiled sadly as she looked down at her lap. "I guess I sound like a broken record, huh?"

George kept his focus on the wall in front of him as he smiled sadly as well. "Yeah, you do. But it's the truth."

Izzie sighed heavily as she closed her eyes. She didn't want to look at him. She wasn't sure if it was because of what they had done earlier or because what she was about to say was so hard.

"When things got so complicated with Denny," She started, but stop to collect her thoughts as she opened her eyes and tears welled up in her eyes. George sat silently beside her. He knew it was her time to talk.

"At the end when I was on the edge and I had to make a decision about Denny, one that I knew would change the rest of my life… when I decided to cut his LVAD cord and put his heart in distress… I beeped you."

Izzie's tears were falling freely now as she laid her heart over that fine line again.

"Not Meredith or Cristina or Alex. But you. Not because you would be particularly good with the situation, but simply because you were George and I needed you. Only you."

George kept his focus on the wall in front of him. He could tell from her voice that what she was saying was bringing a flood of tears, but he couldn't look at her or he was afraid he might join her. He just knew she was going to break his heart. And maybe hers right along with it.

"And you came running, no questions asked," she laughed out, bitterly. "You didn't even run after I told you my chaotic plan. God everything was so messed up."

George's hand was lying on his lap, right next to hers in her lap. He carefully let his pinky finger reach out and gently touched hers to let her know it was okay.

"Anyways," She started again, breathing out heavily. "That night when I beeped you and brought you into my plan, I put your career and life on the line. I was asking you to stand there and help me do something that could ruin your medical career forever. You knew what it meant for us both if you did what I asked. You tried to talk me down, but by that time I was in too deep and you knew that. And so you stood by me as I put all of our careers on the line. You stood strong and loyal."

George closed his eyes and bowed his head as he remembered that fateful night.

"Well I'm not going to let you do that again. I'm not going to let you put your career on the line for me," Izzie said, determinedly.

George looked up in surprise. This wasn't where he thought she was going with this. Now he was confused as he looked over at her for the first time since they had put their clothes back on.

"What?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

She looked over at him with a resolved expression on her face.

"You're not transferring to Mercy West. I am."

>>


	7. Chapter 7

>>

Cristina pulled her bloody surgical gloves off and threw them in the hazardous waste container as Callie and Alex washed up in the sink.

"God that was great," Alex boasted, scrubbing up his arms as they did for every post-surgical protocol. "You know you were right. Surgery is a great way to end a bad day."

Callie smiled as she scrubbed her own arms up and down.

"I know. Just wait until you've had the day from hell and you get a surgery where you have to break bones… its like a huge release. Almost better than sex."

"Well I don't know about that," Alex smiled.

Cristina came up between Alex and Callie and started washing her hands and arms as well. She was glad to have the surgery done with. All they had to do now was talk with Mr. Carlyle's wife and she could go home. For once she was completely ready to get out of that hospital and away from surgeries that were complicated in ways that had nothing to do with medical situations.

"I guess you needed this surgery after finding out about George and Izzie," Alex said, casually.

Cristina dropped the disinfecting soap in the sink. The sound of it clattering on the metal surface below her seemed loud as the air was sucked out from the room after Alex's innocent musing.

"What?" Callie asked, taken back. "After I found out what about George and Izzie?"

Cristina went ridged as Callie narrowed her eyes at Alex. Alex looked at Callie and realized she didn't know. His smile from before suddenly faltered.

Callie turned her head towards Cristina and narrowed her eyes at her.

"Found out what?" She demanded to know, roughly turning the water off and ripping paper towels out its holder to dry her arms.

Cristina turned towards her and tried to act casually.

"That… George and Izzie are stuck in an elevator together."

Callie looked directly into her eyes as if she was searching for the truth there. Cristina looked away to finish up her washing just as Alex was drying his hands.

"No," Callie said, demandingly. "Don't do that. Don't look away and try to lie to me."

Cristina closed her eyes and the slowly looked up. She thought she actually heard Alex gulp behind her as the other doctor stared them down.

Callie took a step towards them, which made both Cristina and Alex take a step back putting them both against the scrub room's far wall.

"Today," She started, angrily. "After all the odd looks, and the whispering, and the sudden silence every time I entered a room…"

Callie was staring them both down and wasn't letting up until she found out some answers.

"What's going on?" She asked, desperately. "And don't try to cover up for your little friends! Don't try to cover up for MY husband!"

Cristina looked over at Alex beside her, who looked as perplexed as she felt. She was going to have to break his bones later.

>>

"Izzie…" George said, shocked. He looked at her tear-stained face and felt his heart break a little.

He shook his head because he was speechless.

"It's only fair, George," Izzie said, sadly. "After everything you've done for me."

"Iz, this is crazy," He said, standing up. He ran his hands through his hair nervously and started pacing back and forth. "You can't do this."

Izzie laughed sadly from her position on the floor. "Oh how the tables have turned now."

"Izzie, I was the one who cheated on my wife," He said, pacing back and forth in front of her. "I should be the one who goes."

Izzie stood up and placed both hands on his shoulders to stop him from pacing. His eyes met hers.

"We both cheated," she said, meaning more than her adultress actions with her friend. "You have a wife here. You have a great career ahead of you here. You have a life."

"You…you do too," He said, shaking his head disbelievingly. "You have a life here."

It was at that moment that the elevator started moving again. It lurched forward and suddenly they were heading for the 7th floor again.

Izzie placed both hands on either side of George's face and gently kissed him on the lips. When she pulled away she saw him slowly open his eyes as fresh tears came to her eyes.

"What life is that if you're not here? I can start over there. Have a clean slate."

She let her hands fall away as the elevator came to a stop and the bell chimed as the elevator doors slid open.

She looked back at him once more before she stepped forward and out of the elevator.

George stood speechless as he watched her slip out the door with her head tucked down to hide her tears.

As Izzie's figure slipped around the corner, the sight of Callie came into his view. She was standing there on the other side of the doors waiting for him with her arms crossed.

>>


	8. Chapter 8

>>

Izzie stared up at the ceiling from her position on her bed. She was lying haphazardly across it, still in the position she had heavily flopped down in when she came home. She was still the scrubs she wore home from the hospital and she couldn't find it in herself to move to go take a shower to wash the day away.

The house was empty and still. The other's where still at the hospital finishing their shifts out. After Bailey had found her in the locker room, she had awkwardly told her about what went on in the hospital that day, outside of their stuck elevator. What everyone had heard and what that meant. The other doctor was surprisingly nice about the situation and had even let her go home early.

She figured her resident thought she was on a verge of another breakdown and was trying to prevent another Denny Duquette disaster from happening, but she was afraid her mentor was too late.

Sure she hadn't put any patients in harms way or crossed any medical ethical guidelines, but her actions of the day still had caused an impact on her life and the lives of others.

Other people whose lives she cared about, loved even. She had left George behind in the elevator to, unbeknownst to her, deal with the aftermath.

When she woke up that morning she didn't know she would be destroying marriages, dealing with public humiliation, and worst of all, loosing her best friend all in one shift. If she could have foreseen her day beforehand she would have called in sick.

She heard the front door open and close downstairs, she hoped that who ever was coming home for the day would just leave her be. She didn't have the strength to talk to anyone. She just needed the silence for once.

When she heard the light knock at her door and Meredith's voice calling out her name on the other side, she should have known her roommates wouldn't leave her in the darkness alone.

"Iz?" Meredith asked, carefully after she opened the door slightly and stuck her head in.

When she saw the blonde doctor lying aimlessly on the bed, she opened the door more and stepped in.

"I just wanted to check in on you…" Meredith said, quietly. She wasn't exactly sure what to say to her friend. She didn't think 'glad to see Callie didn't murder you on the spot' was appropriate for the situation.

When she was greeted by silence she turned and closed the door behind her and walked over to sit on the edge of her bed.

"Is there anything I can get you?" Meredith asked, caringly. "Maybe something to eat… or some kind of hard liquor?"

Meredith tried to lighten the situation. Something she knew that was lost on her distress friend, but she had to try something. Izzie was starting to remind her of the sad period of time after her dreams of marrying Denny had been shattered by his death.

Once again Izzie just kept her stare focused on the ceiling above her.

"Well you didn't miss much after you left…" Meredith said. Well nothing if you didn't count Callie going berserk on George and punching him, she thought to herself. Another thought that she didn't think her friend needed to hear right now. "It was pretty quiet…mostly."

Meredith looked over at Izzie, who kept her quiet front up. She knew she wasn't going to get through to her friend tonight. She understood how she felt. It hadn't been that long ago when she was devastated by Derek's marriage to Addison. She could remember how hard it was to work in the same hospital with the two of them. Much less seeing Derek everyday and feel her body ache for him. And how easy it was to give into temptation. After all she wasn't the leader of the Dirty Mistress Club for nothing.

She also remembered wanting to be left alone after everything went down between her and Derek. Sometimes her roommates listened and sometimes they didn't. This was a time she needed to listen to Izzie's silent pleas and give her space.

"Well if you need anything, you know where to find me," She said, standing up and heading towards the door. Right before she got to the door she heard the soft sound of Izzie's voice.

"How did you get through it?"

"I'm sorry?" Meredith asked, turning around. She almost didn't hear her at all.

"When Derek didn't choose you," She said, a little louder now. "When he cut you free and broke your heart… how did you get through it?"

"I dunno…" She said, crossing her arms. "I just took it one day at a time I guess, as corny as that sounds."

Izzie brought her hand up and wiped her fresh tears away and laughed bitterly. "Probably helps if you don't have to deal with public humiliation like having your dirty moments broadcasted all over the hospital and igniting a fury of talk among the gossip whores."

"Yeah probably so. Of course having your panties pinned up to the bulletin board for all to see wasn't all that great either."

"Mmm, yeah," Izzie agreed, simply.

"Look it could be worse," Meredith tried.

Izzie's head popped up as she gave Meredith a crazy look.

"How?"

"There could have been video camera's in the elevator for the gossip whores to enjoy," Meredith shrugged, trying to hide her smile.

Izzie just let her head flop back down to the mattress as she groaned.

"It'll get better, Iz. Between Cristina's wedding coming up, Alex getting all friendly with Ava, and my life being my life, something is bound to happen in the next couple of weeks to take all the gossip whore's attention off your situation."

Izzie just nodded. She was back to looking up at the ceiling again.

"You should probably change into some different clothes, I'm sure it would feel good to get out of the clothes you've been in all day," Meredith tried, but was once again greeted by silence.

"I'll just be downstairs. If you need me just give me a yell," Meredith offered before stepping out of her room, leaving the door cracked just in case her friend did need her soon.

>>

George stepped into the lobby of their hotel. He looked around at the bustling reception area. People whizzed by him going out the door, to their life, whatever that was. A man with a nice coat and tie on breezed pass him while carrying a briefcase and talking on his cell phone at the same time. A couple in formal wear, holding each other close, lost in each other brushed passed him, oblivious to him standing there numbly in the room. A family came into the hotel, wearing tourist shirts and holding shopping bags, all laughing and having a good time as they passed him. Even the workers behind the counter seemed to be buzzing with life as they did whatever their assigned duty was for the evening. He had become a regular there, so they no longer took notice when he came and went. But as he stood there, while other people's lives swirled around him, he felt paralyzed from the world wind events of his life.

He could be any of those busy people in that room. Could have their lives, and be oblivious to the pain and sadness of the world. He could be the savvy businessman who was caught up in his work and unconcerned with the world around him. Or he could be part of the loving couple, so lost in each other that they were blind to everything else around them. He could even be the family man, happy and devoted to nothing but his family. But somehow he just couldn't be all three at once, not at this point and time in his life. When everything seemed to be flying past him in warp speed, all he wanted to do was scream and reach out to something to hold onto. To find a balance, once again.

He looked around the busy hotel and he knew had to find that balance again. It was the only choice he had left.

He walked over to the elevators and pushed the small arrow button up. As the elevator chimed and the doors opened up, he thought about how much of his life he had spent in elevators. Working in a large hospital will have you riding elevators for a good portion of your career. To get lab results, move patients, go to lunch, or to even just go home. There was no way to avoid the elevators at Seattle Grace. Or the people who rode them with you every single day.

When the door slid shut, he noticed his reflection from the glossy gold metal. He lifted his hand to the spot where Callie had punched him earlier. It was already sore to touch, but he did it anyways. The pain reminded him that he was alive.

He pressed the button for his floor and the elevator started its upward bound with out a hitch or a bump, unlike the elevator he just spent most of his day on.

When the doors finally opened again the first thing he noticed was familiar looking clothes flung across the hallway. He slowly made his way down the corridor, picking up a shirt here or a pair of pants there. He picked up a few books and a broken picture frame with a picture inside of it of him, Meredith, and Izzie in front of their Christmas tree last year, smiling because it was a better time. He stopped short at their door and just stared at it for a few moments with his clothes and things gathered in his arms.

He hated confrontations. He had never been good at them. His brothers had always picked on him when he was younger, because he was the grunt of the family. Small and quiet, but the smart one. He knew when to keep his trap shut. He knew his brothers would eventually either bore of bullying him around or get in trouble before they could do much damage. All he had to do was stay quiet and avoid confrontation until his Dad got home.

But as he stood there, he knew his father wasn't coming home anymore to save him. He also knew he had avoided this long enough and that staying quiet wouldn't get him out of this.

He got his key card out and slid it through the electronic key slot on the handle. When he saw the little green light bleep, he held his breath as he turned the handle and opened the door slowly.

As he opened the door, he was almost afraid a large blunt object would come flying towards him, but nothing but a dark room greeted him. So dark he could hardly see the hand in front of his face. Everything was quiet and still, the complete opposite of what he had witness in the lobby downstairs or the hallway outside of their door. For a moment he thought that maybe she had left. Left him and their marriage. Not that he could blame her. Maybe she left him a note explaining how she deserved better and was leaving him. To find a better man.

He blinked a couple of times in hopes it would get his eyes to focus in the dark. He slowly made his way towards the main room where he knew the window was, hoping the lights from the city outside would give him some light to see by. When he rounded the small corner, he stopped when he saw her sitting on the edge of the bed just staring into space in front of her. The grey steely light from window was just enough light to see her just sitting there numbly.

"Callie?" George rasped out, quietly.

She didn't move. She didn't show any kind of reaction indicating that she knew he was in the same room. She just sat there staring straight ahead. Her arms lay numbly by her sides, her shoulders slump from defeat. The small grey light from the window also revealed the many tears she had been shedding, a fact that made his heart drop to his stomach.

He carefully placed his things on the small love seat against the wall. He wasn't exactly sure what to say or do. He wanted to explain everything. He wanted to tell her how sorry he was. He wanted to tell her that she deserved better. He wanted to tell her what she deserved to hear long ago. But he couldn't find the right words that would express all of that. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it again. He looked down at the floor as if that would give him the answers he was looking for.

"That night, when we had that big fight," Callie whispered, roughly. "You went away and got drunk with your friends. That night when you didn't come home…"

He kept his head down, ashamed of the mistakes he made that night.

"Today, it wasn't the first time, was it?" She said, keeping her focus on the space in front of her.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and shook his head, even though she wasn't even looking at him. He didn't want to break her heart even more.

"That next day," she started again. "When you smelled so bad and looked like crap and you bravely stood up to my father and made plans for our wedding party, that day… I knew."

George looked up at her in surprise.

He closed his eyes as he remembered that tortuous day. He had felt horrible from his drunken night, but when the memories came flooding back, he sunk to a whole new level of horrible.

"I tried to kiss you.. and…and you pulled away… it wasn't a move that was anything major…but something inside of me just shifted then…. And I somehow knew, right then and there, something had changed."

"Callie…I…" George tried but was interrupted quickly.

"NO!…don't. You've had all of this time to talk but you chose time and time again not to, so don't start now." Callie said, coldly.

George shut his mouth and nervously ran a hand through his short hair.

"All this time…. all these little things… I knew something weird was going on between you and…" she bit out, but couldn't finish the sentence. Fresh tears were running down her face now and George clinched his jaw in order to keep his emotions straight.

"All of this DAMN TIME… I knew… and I've been so DAMN stupid, George."

Her tears were running freely now. George tried to fight back tears of his own.

"I knew…but I just didn't want to believe it. I lied to myself, just like I lied to myself when we got married, thinking that it was the right thing to do and that it was what you needed to help you get over your Dad. Or how I lied to myself after I told you that I loved you and you gave me that stupid speech about how you wanted to say it when you meant it…I lied to myself thinking that one day you would actually do that, that you would actually mean it."

"I did mean it," George whispered.

"No, you didn't. If you had you wouldn't have slept with her," she said, bitterly.

"I didn't mean for any of this to happen, Callie, I swear." George said, hoping she would hear his sincerity.

Callie shook her head. "George, locking your keys in the car is something you don't mean to do, sleeping with your best friend… it's something you mean. It's something that means a lot."

"You've got to know that I didn't mean to hurt you. I...there's nothing I can say that will excuse anything I've done, but please believe me when I say, I didn't want to hurt you," George pleaded.

For a moment Callie didn't say anything as she sat motionless.

"We've done this a lot haven't we?" She asked, suddenly regaining her composure and going back to an eerie calm.

George's brow furrowed in confusion. "I'm sorry?"

"This back and forth. One of us will mess up, one of us yells, then one of us apologizes. This routine of ours that we can't seem to escape, its so tiring."

George nodded slowly in agreement.

"You deserve better than this," George tried.

"Funny you should say that, all this time I thought I did get what I deserved in life. I got you. But really, I didn't. I didn't get all of you at least."

"I really did want us to work out, Callie." George said, determinedly. "When we got married… I never thought…"

Callie smiled sadly. "I had an amputee case today. A guy who had a bone destroying bacteria, but it wasn't the bacteria that did him in. It was his history with his bad legs. He never had a chance of keeping his legs to begin with. And I think a small part of him knew that before he went into that operation room."

George was a bit confused by the sudden change in subjects again, but he tried to read in between the lines.

"So what does that mean for us?" He asked, swallowing hard.

Callie looked over at him for the first time since he had entered the room and locked eyes with him. And George found his answer.

>>


	9. Chapter 9

>>

Meredith was in the kitchen when she heard Alex come in. She was sitting at the kitchen table holding her steaming cup of tea when he appeared in the doorway.

"Hell of a day, huh?" He said, coming in and going straight to the refrigerator to pull a bottle of beer out.

"Yeah, you could say that again."

"Well I don't see an abundance amount of baked goods, so that's got to be a good sign, right?" He said, popping the cap off the bottle and taking a long drag of the liquor.

"Depends," She said, watching him sit down at the table with her. "The silence and stillness could mean we're like in the eye of the storm. All the death and destruction may have yet to come."

Alex mulled that over as he took another pull of his beer. Before he could say anything they heard the front door open and close again.

Meredith knew all her current roommates were in the house at the moment, so she wondered who would just come in so casually.

When Cristina strolled through the kitchen door Meredith looked over at her with surprise.

"What are you doing here? I thought you couldn't wait to get home?"

"Burke's in a late surgery tonight," the dark hair intern said, moving towards the refrigerator to open it and bending down to look inside. "And Momma Burke is there with her wedding planner book."

She popped back up over the open door. "She has a wedding planner book. It's like the size of our biomechanics books, it's got little sticky notes sticking out of it and…and ripped out magazine pages all through it. I mean, seriously, who does that?"

"Normal women?" Alex said, smiling while popping his feet up on the table.

"Whatever evil spawn, like you would even know what that was. Maybe you should get some tips from George on how to land the ladies," Cristina said, smiling back.

Alex smile automatically dropped. Meredith just shook her head at the two.

"So you're dodging Burke's apartment because of Momma Burke?" Meredith asked, taking a sip of her tea.

"Yup. Just until she flies out of town with her mammoth size wedding book tied to the back of her broom," She said, her attention back to the refrigerator. "Did you drink the last beer?"

"Yup," Alex said, taking another pull of his beer.

"There's tea," Meredith offered.

"That's for wusses," Cristina said, pulling a beer out of the vegetable crisper drawer triumphantly.

"Hey, I was hiding that from you." Alex said, as he watched Cristina sit at the table with them.

"Yup, not anymore. I know where you hide your secret beer stash. I know everything. Besides your half the reason why I seriously need this."

"How was I supposed to know she was the only one in the whole hospital who didn't know that her husband was cheating on her?"

"Uh because she hadn't yet gone all crazy Darth Vador on anybody?" Cristina pointed out, sarcastically.

Alex just rolled his eyes at the other intern.

"Forget about that now, what's done is done," Meredith tried. "What are we going to do about George and Izzie?"

Cristina and Alex both turned to look at her as if she had lost her mind.

"Walk lightly around them and hope they won't notice us to come whine to?" Cristina joked. She took Alex snort of laughter as a sign of agreement.

"No really, this is serious," Meredith said, putting her teacup down on the table. "This is George and Izzie we're talking about. She's his person and vice versa."

"Yeah, his person to have a marriage destroying affair with?" Alex said, annoyed.

"We don't know that," Meredith tried.

"Right, for all we know Callie could be tending to the wounds she caused on him now," Cristina joked.

"Dude, I know who cheats on the wife that breaks bones for a living?" Alex asked, incredulously.

"Anyways," Meredith said, trying to swing the topic back around to their friends again. "Going back to George and Izzie. This could be really bad for our little group."

"Our little group?" Cristina asked, disbelievingly. "Mer, we're interns not the Jackson 5."

"I know, I'm just saying that the implication of their actions is like a higher level of freak out than the time I slept with George."

"Well that is serious," Cristina deadpanned.

"All I know is that the little fetus deserves everything he gets. You don't cheat on your wife. And especially not with your best friend," Alex bit out.

"Wow, issues much?" Cristina said, looking at the male intern with a raised eyebrow. Alex just took another long pull of his beer.

"Well, this isn't completely out of left field," Meredith said, standing up as she went over to the sink to poor her now cold tea out. "I mean I was just telling Cristina today that something weird was going on between those three."

"Yeah, but I don't think anyone could have called George and Izzie getting all horizontal with each other." Cristina said.

"In that hospital, anything can happen," Meredith said, turning around from her spot at the sink. "Especially in those elevators."

"That doesn't exactly give him the excuse to cheat on his wife," Alex huffed out. "And that doesn't give her the excuse to…"

He stopped short before finishing the sentence.

"To what?" Meredith challenged. "To have sex? To move on from Denny? To make a mistake or to fall for a best friend?"

Alex didn't answer. He looked at beer as he thought about her words.

"Do you really think Izzie fell for George?" Cristina asked, as Meredith came and sat back down at the table.

"I dunno. That's the thing we don't know the whole story here. But I do know that you just don't wake up one day and decide to have sex with your best friend. You don't put that kind of friendship on the line. Trust me I know, it doesn't work out very well if you do."

They all sat in silence a few minutes, thinking about what she just said, but the silence was broken by the sound of the doorbell ringing.

Meredith wondered who it could be at this late hour. She knew that Derek and Burke were both still at the hospital, so it couldn't be either one of them unless something had happened she wasn't aware of. She noticed the other two must have been thinking the same thing because they fallowed her into the foyer to answer the door out of curiosity.

There weren't that many possibilities of whom it could be so when Meredith opened the door to a weary looking George, she wasn't exactly surprised. She was surprised to see him so soon after what all had transpired during the day, but she wasn't surprised that out of all the places he could have gone to, that he would choose to come back there.

"Hey," George said, softly.

"Hi," Meredith replied back, not exactly sure what else to say.

For a second no one said anything. They all just stared at the man standing outside the door who seemed as exhausted emotionally as he was physically. The cold night air didn't seem to bother the tired intern as he stood numbly outside of her door, but that didn't stop Meredith from shivering from the cool air.

"She's here, but I'm not sure she's up for any visitors," Meredith said, knowing just what he was there for. "But your welcome to come in to where it's warmer."

George nodded his understanding as he stepped into the warm house. Once he was inside the light of the foyer they could all clearly see the bruise that was forming on the left side of his face.

Meredith and Cristina both winced at the ugly looking color forming on his face, Alex let out a snort of laughter. Meredith whacked him in the arm for his insensitivity to the situation.

"What? I knew she would have a wicked right hook," he retorted, after Meredith's look he added, "What? I'm just sayin'."

"Did you get that checked out? You should get a CT, you could have a complex tripod facial fracture or or.." Cristina said, her face lighting up at the idea of a possible surgery.

"No, I'm fine," George said, defeated. "It's not that serious. Or at least my broken face is fine, my broken marriage… not so much."

"Did you talk to Callie?" Meredith asked, carefully. Still not knowing exactly how to handle the situation.

"Yeah," he started. "We did… there wasn't much left to say…."

Meredith nodded her understanding. She felt bad for her friends and for Callie. What George and Izzie did to Callie was inexcusable, but they were still her friends and she hated to see them in such pain. She wished she could do something to make it better for all of them.

"You should probably get something cold to stick on that bruise or it's going to blow up to the size of Texas by the morning," Alex offered, lightly. "A bag of frozen peas works pretty well."

Meredith looked at the normally closed off male intern. She smiled softly because she knew for him that was about as close to a peace offering as he was going to get.

"Do you need…." Meredith started.

"George?" Izzie interrupted, softly from her spot at the top of the stairs.

They all turned to the blonde doctor who was looking down at George in surprise. She was now in a pair of old sweats and Denny's old sweater, which in Meredith's mind wasn't much of an improvement from before.

Meredith, Alex, and Cristina all turned and looked back and froth between the two interns, who seemed to be transfixed by each other's presence.

"Well… you guys probably want some privacy," Meredith tried, grabbing both Cristina and Alex by the arms and started dragging them towards the kitchen.

"What? Really?" Cristina said. "It was just getting good."

"Come on Cristina," Meredith warned. "Or I'll send you home to Momma Burke with her wedding planner book."

"Oh low blow, Mer. Low blow," She said, following the other doctor towards the kitchen. "Fine, we'll just be in the kitchen, you know…eavesdropping."

George stayed rooted in his spot in the foyer as he and Izzie just stood there taking each other in. For them, the rest of the world just fell away.

Izzie slowly made her way down the stairs and came up to stand in front of him. When she saw the large contusion forming on his face she lifted her hand and gently touched it with the tips of her fingers. George flinched from the pain, but closed his eyes and let out a sigh as she let her hand linger on the side of his face.

George opened his eyes again when he felt Izzie's hand fall away and watched her as she made her way into the living room.

Izzie sat down on the couch and George followed her lead. They were once again sitting side by side, not knowing what to say or do. Much in the same way they sat in the locker room the night after George finally remembered their sinful actions, when he made the imperfect rules of how they were going to handle their predicament.

Both sat in silence for a long while, neither knowing what the next step was. For Izzie she didn't know what George coming back to their house meant for her. She wondered what it meant for George. She was worried about him. She just wanted what was best for him, but she wasn't exactly sure what that was anymore. She also wondered what it meant for Callie. Izzie wondered how she was doing. Even if she wasn't Callie's biggest fan, she never meant for any of this to happen to her. The other doctor never deserved this. But neither did she. Or at least she didn't think she did, she was beginning to wonder what she had done in a previous life to deserve such bad luck in the love department.

"I'm never having sex again," George said, suddenly, breaking the silence between them.

Izzie blinked a few times before turning towards her friend and gave him an odd look.

"Um…what?" Izzie asked, a little thrown by his offhanded statement.

"First," he said, holding up his hand and counted each point with a flick of a finger. "Syphilis pandemic, then the Meredith meltdown, and last but not least, a marriage destroying affair."

Izzie swallowed hard before she turned back and looked down into her lap.

"I always thought once I got married that would be it for me. That would be the end of the line for me. I'd be set for life with my wife and I would be happy. Like my parents," he said, sadly.

"So you and Callie…" Izzie let her question drop off. She always knew that George marrying Callie was a mistake, but she hated the way it ended.

"Are over? Yeah," George stated. "Falling for your best friend doesn't exactly bode well for marriages."

Izzie's head shot up at his admission. She knew she had unexpectedly fallen for him, but he had never said that he had for her. He had never even hinted that he felt anything more than lust or friendship. She had always just hoped that he felt the slightest bit of the way she did. Hearing him say that he had fallen for her and failed in his marriage in the same sentenced thrilled her and hurt her to no end.

"George…I…" Izzie tried, but couldn't find the words to say how sorry she was that he had to go through this because of her.

George looked over at her and saw the guilt and sorrow on her face.

"Iz," he said, tenderly. "I've found that apologies don't really work here."

Izzie shook her head, sniffling. "George, I never wanted this for you. I mean I never wanted you to have to go through all of this… it's all just so messed up."

"I know," George said, smiling sadly. He looked away and thought about everything that had led them to this point.

"When I proposed to her I thought it would fix me. I thought it would somehow magically heal that hole in my heart that my Dad's death had left. I also thought it could be my chance to make my Dad proud and become the man he always knew I would be. I'd be like him and mom. Happily married and that would be it. That would be my quick fix."

"But it wasn't, was it?" Izzie asked, carefully.

"No, it was just the band-aide covering the hole."

"Yeah, I know the feeling. In fact, you ate most of my band-aide."

George blinked at her statement and Izzie thought about her words.

"Okay, forget that last part. I meant the large quantities of baked goods were my way of trying to hide my pain after Denny died."

"Do you still miss him?"

She thought about his question for a moment. "Yeah, I do."

"Does it ever let up? The missing him I mean?" He said, keeping his focus ahead of him.

"No, not really. You just learn how to live your life around it. Eventually you figure out a way to move on and keep that experience and those memories with you."

Izzie noticed he was gripping the edge of the couch with a white-knuckled clutch. She looked at the side of his face and could see the pain on his face. His jaw was clenched tight and his shoulders were tense.

"George?" She asked, concerned.

He slowly turned towards her as tears spilled out and down his cheeks. Izzie was taken back by the sight. She suddenly realized she had never seen him cry before. She had seen him tear up before, like he did for her when Denny died, but never had she actually seen heart-breaking tears running down his face. It was a sight that took her breath away.

"I really miss my Dad. And I really hate that I let him down so much with my marriage. And I really really need you to be my best friend again."

Izzie didn't hesitate to take him into her arms. She hugged him tightly as he wrapped his arms around her and let out all of the pent up emotions he had been holding back for so long.

Izzie couldn't help her own tears as she held onto him and listened to him let go. He was holding her as tight as she was holding onto him. She knew there were no words she could say that would make him feel any better, so she just stroked the back of his head to let him know it was okay. She would be his best friend. She would never give that up, no matter what happened between them. She wasn't sure of a lot of things these days, but that she knew.

They sat holding each other for a long while as George let out every regret and sorrow he had left in him. After a while he quieted down and they just sat there holding each other. Finally, George gathered himself together and pulled pack.

"I'm sorry," He shook his head, embarrassed by his break down.

"George," she said, smiling tenderly. "I've found that apologies don't really work here."

A small smile formed on his face as he heard the familiar statement.

"And you did not let your Dad down," she said, determinedly.

He looked away, as if he didn't believe her. Izzie gently place her hand on his cheek and guided his face back to her. She wiped away the tear stained tracks.

"You didn't," She said, again. "You're Harold O'Malley's son. He brought you up to be a kind, loving, and intelligent man. And you are definitely all of those things and more. You're an O'Malley. And everything in between, its just life, something we can't escape. Death, love, broken hearts… it's what life is made up of, you know?"

George nodded and gave her a small smile for her kind words.

"I just wish I wasn't such a huge part of your pain." Izzie said, sadly. George locked eyes with her and shook his head.

"Izzie, when you came to me about Denny. When you wanted me to help you with your plan… I'll admit I was scared. I was scared for you, for me, for both of our careers, for Denny. I knew we were both in way over our heads and that we were about to cross some serious medical guidelines. But I stayed. I could have walked out and told you, you were on your own with your… extreme plan. But it was my choice to stay. To take a stance with you and help you when you needed me the most. You're Izzie and I'm George. It's what we do."

Izzie shook her head and was going to protest, but George interrupted her before she could.

"There's also a fine line between friendship and something more. It's a very scary, complicated fine line. One that means a lot. If we crossed that line… it would mean risking everything in our friendship. Plus, not to mention the sharp barb-wired fence called my marriage that also accompanied this fine line. Something that I just couldn't ignore."

Izzie nodded her understanding and looked down into her lap. She had been waiting for this the moment since the day she woke up that fateful morning with a huge hangover and a sleeping George beside her.

George reached out and squeezed her hand to get her attention back. Izzie kept her gaze on his hand on top of hers.

"Just like with the Denny situation, I chose to cross the line with you. Going from friendship to something more, it was my choice. I didn't hesitate to have sex with you that drunken night. I chose to kiss you in the elevator. And today, in that elevator, that was me making a choice to be on your side again."

Izzie looked up at him. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "What does this mean?" she asked, breathlessly.

"It means that if there's a side to be on, I'm going to be on yours."

Izzie's face lit up with her smile, a look that warmed George to the core of his very being.

This time it was George who pulled her into a hug. She held onto him with everything that she was worth. She buried her face into his neck and took a deep breath. George closed his eyes as he laid his head on top of hers.

When they pulled away they were both still smiling. They sat back and rested their heads on the back of the couch, sitting shoulder to shoulder.

"So."

"So," George said back.

"Do you need a place to stay…I mean I know its kind of a crowded house right now but.."

"No," He said. "I think I'm going to find my own place. Once I get my the rest of my stuff…if it survives that is… I'll probably look for an apartment or something. It would be good to have the time to myself to figure some things out."

"Are you sure?" Izzie asked. "'Cause I'm not beyond literally kicking Alex out for your room back."

George smiled. "Thanks, but I think it would be good to get some space you know?"

Izzie shook her head understanding.

"Now about Mercy West…" George said, pointedly.

"Hey," Izzie said, holding up a hand. "After everything that happened today, I'm not beyond literally fighting you for that spot."

Hearing George laugh made Izzie's heart skip a beat.

"Hey now," George said, between laughs. "I am a manly man. I'm a strong masculine man…. who applied first!"

Izzie was the one who laughed out this time.

"Kicking," she said, motioning the air between them. "You're ass. No problem here."

"Okay, so we'll just have to agree to disagree for now." George said, finally.

"Sure, beside we still have to take those damn tests, so we'll have to see then. After that, its on manly man."

"Oh right. Tests. I forgot about those, yeah we'll have to get through those first."

They sat in silence for a few moments.

"Think Cristina and them are still eve's dropping?" George asked.

"Oh yeah," she said, sarcastically. "We're like a walking talking version of a soap opera, who wouldn't eve's drop?"

"True."

"So…" Izzie said, this time leaving the statement open ended as if she didn't know how to say what she wanted to say.

George already knew what was on her mind.

"About us," he finished for her.

"Yeah, what now?"

"We'll be George and Izzie again?" He said, but noticed her bright expression drop a little. "I mean… everything still kinda complicated right now. I just think its best if… I just need some time, you know?"

"Yeah, I know." Izzie agreed.

"But," George said, suddenly.

"I do like buts though," Izzie joked.

"Yeah, I know, I remember," George teased, smiling at her. He let out a small laugh when she blushed.

"Okay, so continuing on..." Izzie said, blushing.

George looked over at her again.

"But even though I need some time… that's not going to stop me from loving you."

Izzie looked over at him in awe. George thought her smile could brighten up even his darkest days.

"Good." Izzie said, smiling. "You'll do your space thing and take some time to breathe or whatever… and I'll wait. I'll be right here for you."

"You promise?" George asked, turning back so they were both sitting back on the couch side by side.

"Yeah, of course. You're George and I'm Izzie. It's what we do."

George smiled as he let his pinky finger reach over and touch hers in her lap. Both sighed as they finally relaxed in what felt like the first time in their lives.

The long winding road wasn't over for them. They weren't out of the woods, yet. There were still a lot of things left up in the air. But they both knew that as long as they had each other, they would find their way again.

>>

Fine lines are funny things. They are something that can be so easily ignored, but the out come on the other side was always glaringly apparent.

Sometimes crossing a fine line meant getting into trouble. Some lines that you crossed meant you might loose apart of yourself you'll never get back again. And crossing some lines will impact your life in such a way, that you'll never want to cross back.

Yes, Izzie knew about these fine lines. She had spent most of her life jumping over them without a second thought. But even with all the consequences she found facing her on the other side, she never regretted her decisions in the end.

If she spent the rest of her life crossing the fine lines, than she didn't care. At least she was still moving. And as long as George was on her side, she would have something to move forward towards. And in the end that was all that mattered to her.

>>

The End.

>>


End file.
